SYNTHESIS AND EXTRACTION ABILITY OF SOME POLYETHER BISTHIOUREAS AND UREAS

For investigations of complexation properties, a series of bisthiourea s in which the two thiourea groupings are linked with a polyether chai n have been prepared by addition of amines to the corresponding isothi ocyanates. The ability of the synthesized compounds to extract metal p icrates from aqueous solutions was studied. It was found that, while a ll the thioureas extracted Ag+ and Cu2+ ions, only some bisthioureas e xtracted Pb2+ and Cd2+ ions, and some other bisthioureas also relative ly well extracted Ca2+ ions. On reaction with 2,4,6-trimethylbenzonitr ile oxide, the thioureas were converted into urea derivatives which, h owever, exhibited practically no extraction ability.